Posts tagged “food holiday book”

Did you know?

Tempura is actually a Portuguese form of cooking. Introduced to Japan in the 1500’s by Jesuit Priests.

Today’s 5 facts about Tempura:

Tempura was considered a local delicacy in Nagasaki, Japan for well over 100 years.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, considered the first Shogun of Japan, reportedly loved tempura.

The word “tempura” comes from the word “tempora”, a Latin word meaning “times.”

Outside Japan there are many nontraditional uses of tempura. Chefs over the world include tempura dishes on their menus, and a wide variety of different batters and ingredients are used, including the nontraditional broccoli, zucchini, sliced sweet potatoes, and asparagus.

No Panko or Breadcrumbs are used in Tempura, as this method of using breadcrumbs is called Furai.

Today’s Food History

1618 Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England.

1827 Sir Sanford Fleming was born. He devised the present system of time zones while working for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

1896 The ‘Fannie Farmer Cookbook’ was published.

1901 Alfred Packer is released from prison. He served 18 years for cannibalism after being stranded in the Rocky Mountains. (Actually he was convicted of murder, since cannibalism was not against the law).

1958 Ant Farms go on sale. Milton Levine had the idea at a July 4th family picnic. I wonder if he had dreams of fencing them in so they would not bother him at picnics?

Here are today’s five things to know about the Bloody Mary:

The drink’s namesake is Mary of England, whose 16th-century persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname.

Some drink aficionados believe the inspiration for the name was Hollywood star Mary Pickford.

The Bloody Mary is sometimes mistakenly believed to alleviate hangovers when it is served in the morning. While it will temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms, it will also further dehydrate the drinker, causing the symptoms to worsen later.

The Bloody Mary is the US’s most popular alcoholic drink for brunch.

This drink has been called “The world’s most complex cocktail.”

Today’s Food History

45 BC New Year’s Day was celebrated for the first time on January 1 when the Julian calendar took effect.

1449 Lorenzo de Medici (The Magnificent) of Florence was born. Many in this Italian noble family were patrons of learning and the arts. Lorenzo’s great granddaughter, Catherine, is known as the ‘mother of French haute cuisine’ because when she married the French king Henry II, she brought the finest Italian chefs, and her passion for fine food, with her to France. (With apologies to my French readers. Reasonable rebuttals accepted for future publication).

1735 Paul Revere was born. A silversmith and American Revolutionary folk hero, he also made surgical instruments and false teeth.

1772 The London Credit Exchange Company issued the first traveler’s checks.

1800 Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton died. A French naturalist, he was a pioneer in several fields including plant physiology. He conducted many agricultural experiments and introduced Merino sheep to France. First director of the Museum of Natural History in Paris.

1863 Daniel Freeman is the first to submit a claim under the new Homestead Act, for 160 acres near Beatrice, Nebraska.

1896 Alfred Ely Beach died. American inventor and publisher of Scientific American magazine.

1898 Post Grape Nuts are introduced by C. W. Post of Battle Creek, Michigan. (There are no grapes or nuts in Grape Nuts).

1905The New York Times builds the Times Tower at Long Acre Square, has the name changed to Times Square and celebrated the event with a New Year’s Eve Fireworks show. The beginning of an American tradition at Times Square.

1907The Times introduced the New Years Eve Ball on their building at Times Square in New York. Descending to mark the end of the old and the beginning of the New Year ever since.

1909 Marcel Proust had a flashback. On January 1, 1909, he ate a piece of tea-soaked toast whose taste caused a flood of childhood memories. In his 7 volume allegorical novel ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ the character named Swann has a similar experience when he bites into a lemon cookie (a ‘Madeleine’) which brings on a similar flood of memories.

1935 In Miami, the first Orange Bowl was played on this day in 1935. Bucknell University wins over the University of Miami, 26-0.

1935 The first Sugar Bowl football game was played on this day in 1935 in New Orleans.

1935 B. (Barnard) Kliban was born. A satirical cartoonist, best known for his cat cartoons. A few of his cartoon book titles: ‘Never Eat Anything Larger Than Your Head’, ‘The Biggest Tongue in Tunisia’.

1942 Country Joe McDonald of ‘Country Joe and the Fish’ was born.

1958 The agreements establishing the European Economic Community (EEC or Common Market) went into effect.

1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

1996 The last Polynesian tree snail, species Partula turgida, died at the London Zoo. They lived on the South Pacific island of Raiatea, where the residents imported predatory snails from Florida to eat a pest snail, originally imported from Africa. Instead they ate the native Tree Snail to extinction. We never seem to learn about the consequences of introducing nonnative species.

1998 Smoking is banned in California restaurants and bars.

2002 The ‘euro’ was introduced, the new monetary unit of the European Union.

Here are today’s five thing to know about Sandwich:

Americans eat about 300 sandwiches everyday.

This concoction didn’t get its name until 1762 when the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, a British statesman, got hungry during a marathon poker game.

The most popular sandwich is a ham sandwich.

The most expensive sandwich ever sold was a grilled toast sandwich that seemed to have an image of the Virgin Mary on it. It sold for $28,000 in 2004.

The average American will have consumed 1,500 PB&Js by the time they graduate high school.

Today’s Food History

1633 Bernardino Ramazzini was born. An Italian physician, he was the first to note the relationship between worker’s illnesses and their work environment. Considered the founder of occupational medicine.

1718 John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich was born. (Some sources list November 13). Captain Cook named the Sandwich Islands after him (now known as Hawaii). The Earl is supposed to have invented the sandwich as a quick meal so as not to interrupt his gambling sessions.

1832 Sir John Leslie died. A Scottish physicist and mathematician, he was the first to create ice artificially (freeze water artificially). He used an air pump apparatus.

1841 Johannes Eugenius Bulow Warming was born. A Danish botanist, he was one of the founders of the science of plant ecology.

1863 J.T. Alden was issued a patent for an improved method of manufacturing dried yeast.

1893 Edward A. Doisy was born. He discovered vitamin K.

1895 The town of Walcott, Minnesota is destroyed by a fire that begins in a flour mill.

1952 Frozen peas are added to the list of frozen vegetables produced by Birdseye.

1966 Ingredients are required to be listed on food packages. The first truth in packaging law.

Here are today’s five things to know about Bison:

Bison are also called Buffalo.

The American bison and the European wisent are the largest terrestrial animals in North America and Europe.

A bison’s hump is composed of muscle, supported by long vertebrae. It allows the animal to use its head to plow through snow.

Fossils and accounts from early travelers show that Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the U.S. where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.

The Yellowstone herd is one of the few that remains genetically free of cattle genes.

Today’s Food History

1798 Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness was born. He was the son of Arthur Guinness, and joined the family brewing business. When his father died, he became sole owner and built up the business. He was also elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1851.

1841 The first wagon of settlers left Independence, Missouri for the trip to California.

1962 Antony Kiedis of the music group ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’ was born.

1997 Victor Mills died. He was a chemical engineer who worked for Proctor & Gamble. Among his many accomplishments, he improved Duncan Hines cake mix, and Jif peanut butter, and invented Pampers disposable diapers.